Licensed Financial Institutions

To register a JSC (Brokerage Company) in Serbia, which will be authorized by the authority of the Republic of Serbia to perform the activities of an investment company and the right to hold financial instruments and monetary assets of your clients, it is necessary to undertake the following procedures:

1. Registration of a Closed Joint-Stock Company

Following the Company Law, shareholders establish a JSC conclusion and registration of the Memorandum of Association without a public offer (simulating the way of establishing)

The shareholders can be legal and natural persons, domestic and foreign origin, and the establishment of a Single Member Shareholder Company is allowed.

Memorandum of Association, among other things, should include:

• Predominant business activity of the company (6612 brokerage operations with securities and stock exchange goods)
• The minimum share capital of an investment firm (min. €200,000 in dinar equivalent to hold financial instruments and monetary assets of your clients)
• In the course of the company’s business, assets worth the statutory minimum amount of share capital (min. € 200,000) may be held in cash and cash equivalents, deposits and securities with a maturity of up to one year, issued by the Republic of Serbia or the National Bank Of Serbia.
• Corporate Bodies: Shareholders’ Assembly, one or more Directors and the supervisory board.
• Minimum of two persons who will be employed on a permanent basis.
• According to the Law on Capital Market, the Director must be employed full-time and the Director and at least one member of the Supervisory Board must know the Serbian language.

The JSC adopts the Article of Association of the Brokerage Company, which regulates the management of the company and other matters of importance to the company’s operations. The statute is registered and published in SBRA.

If defined by the Article of Association, the founders are entitled to reimbursement for the costs of establishing the company and obtaining a license from the Serbians authorities.

2. Obtaining a license to perform the activities of a Brokerage Company

For a Brokerage Company to obtain a license to perform its registered activity and to hold the clients’ financial instruments and monetary assets, the company must submit a request to the state authority for the activity of the investment company.

The state authority shall be obliged to bring a solution within 30 days from the date of receipt of the complete documentation.

In addition to the license to perform the activity, the state authority gives its prior consent:

• Acquiring qualified shareholders in the JSC
• Appointment of Board members
• General Act of JSC (Memorandum of Association, Article of Association and Business rules)

3. Performing activities

The activity is carried out by the laws of Serbia, licensed by the state authority and the rules of business.

Opening of accounts and depositing of investment funds may be performed by residence and non-residence natural person and legal entity.

After signing the contract (between the Brokerage Company and the client) and opening an account with the client, it is followed by the deposit of the investment funds into the client’s foreign currency account, which is opened with the appropriate bank in Serbia.

To open this account, the client must have a signed agreement with the Brokerage Company, which should be presented to the bank officer for inspection. After that, the client needs to initiate the transfer of paid-up investment funds from their foreign currency account to the segregated account of the Brokerage Company.

Contract with the broker and account opening, for the legal entity or natural person of a non-resident, can be carried out through the power of attorney, which will be certified by the competent authorities from the parent country of the non-resident.

4. Fee for the Services

The fee for the registration of a business company and obtaining the license includes the following services and fees:

• Fee for registration of the Joint-Stock Company (Brokerage Company) with the preparation of the necessary acts (Memorandum of Association, Article of Association and Business rules)
• The fee for the implementation and realization of the requirements for issuing a license to the state authorities
• The fee for mediation in finding persons who would be engaged in jobs that, according to the Capital Market Law, must have knowledge of Serbian, the Director and one member of the Supervisory Board
• Payment of all necessary fees for the registration of a company in SBRA and fees for obtaining the license for performing the activities of the investment company and the right to hold the client’s financial instruments and funds

The deadline for the execution of the service is 3-4 months.